Stunning Upset in Michigan for Senator Sanders

March 8, 2016 (San Diego) Senator Bernie Sanders (VT-I) over performed in the Michigan primary. At this moment the race was called by Reporting San Diego on Twitter over 45 minutes ago. We posted this:

The math was unavailable, and Sanders kept ahead of Secretary Hillary Clinton (D) all night. At one point the lead was as large as five percentage points but it never went bellow 2 points.

With 98 percent reporting, they are separated by 2 points. This is an upset in the race, and one that the Sanders campaign needed to show that they could perform outside of small rural states. Michigan is also an open primary state and local media reported historic level turnout. Open primary means that partisans on both sides can vote on either party. It also means that Independents can vote on either primary as well. In this primary Independents broke for Sanders in very large numbers.

This is an upset, that changes the nature of the race. We asked after the Sanders victory in Maine whether the momentum was changing. In our view, this is is a real race, and has been from the moment this started. The Sanders campaign needed this win.

Tomorrow we will have our usual state of the delegate race for both parties. Though on an important note. Polling said that Sanders should have been shut out of any delegates in Mississippi. At 95 percent of the count, he is squeaking in just over 16 percent of the count. So he also slightly over performed in this primary.